Trip
by T0PD0G
Summary: Have you seen the end of Logan and cried like I have? Well, what if Logan didn't have to end the way it did? OC insert. Rated for swearing. Slight AU I guess.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello y'all. I've had this idea in my head since I saw Logan and I wrote this while school was still in session. I already wrote a few chapters to this story but I never got around to uploading because I'm lazy and pretty busy (but mostly lazy). As a celebration for finally uploading it I'm going to upload the first 3 chapters immediately. Yay! I already have 7 chapters done and I will be uploading probably twice a week or something like that. I'm trying to find time to write more. I have 2 jobs this summer!**

 **When I saw Logan I, of course, cried at the end. I thought to myself _How can I make a story that still retains what happened in Logan but leaves out the ending?_ Then I thought: X-men movie trick! Time travel! So my OC is a time traveler and she's going to prevent, or try to prevent, Logan's death from happening. **

**Also: when I first saw the movie for some reason I thought mutants hadn't been born in 15 years, not 25, and it was too late to change it when I wrote a few chapters already based on that idea so it's staying. Also it makes more sense in my opinion. This will be a multi-chapter story, maybe somewhere around 10-15, and it may be continued.**

 **Follow and review, thanks!**

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Logan missed being a teacher.

He never thought he would enjoy it or be good at it and had even fought with Charles over becoming one, but Charles had insisted. Logan couldn't ever really say no to Charles, telepathy or no telepathy, and so he decided to try it out. If he was honest, he was a little frightened- he didn't really know how to behave around children, how to act like a mentor, or how to teach. If this was Stabbing and Disappointing 101 he would be an excellent teacher, he thought, not with History.

The first day arrived and he went down in history (ha!) as the most unorganized professor of all time. He had been given a state mandatory curriculum by Charles but hadn't known how to go about utilizing it. Jean had taken pity on him and helped organize a topic schedule for him, starting with the Revolutionary War. She gave him a binder with some suggested worksheets for the students and a few for him on how to teach. The second he walked into the class at 8am, he dropped it. The students had to help him pick it up, and they wasted so much time he decided it was going to be Syllabus Day only.

With time, he got better. He didn't drop his shit and began lecturing the class on his take on the Revolutionary War, happily surprised as the students engaged in a lot of conversation with him and he wasn't just standing in front of the class talking the entire time. Who knew The Wolverine had social anxiety? His class met TTh but he elected to switch it to MWF given the eagerness of the class to learn and engage. Aside from history, two semesters later he agreed to also teach XPE, which was the Xavier School's version of PE which included time in the danger room and time outdoors with Logan. He went from not wanting to be a teacher to being everyone's favorite, besides Storm, mostly because of his chill attitude and also because he gave no homework (you don't spend weekends grading assignments if you never assign them).

He missed the school. He missed the kids. He missed his friends, his teammates. And he missed teaching, especially now. He would take teaching a class of 100 kids everyday over chauffeuring rich pricks.

After dropping off a trio of girls at some club who almost had him there in that car, and after accepting 20 grand from Gabriella in her motel to take her and her kid up to North Dakota, he sighed and looked down at the alert on his phone. The app he used was an upgraded version of Über- that's how it all started. He was a glorified taxi with a mini limo. His phone alerted him to a lone customer who wanted to be picked up and driven about 20 minutes outside of town. He squinted, looking at the map through his spectacles, trying to discern where they wanted to be dropped off, but it looked to be in the middle of nowhere. Deciding he didn't really give a shit where he dropped them off and just cared for the money, he accepted the job and made his way over to pick them up. After this last one, he told himself, he was going to head home.

It only took about 5 minutes to reach the pick-up designation given how it was night and not a lot of people were on the road. He pulled into a small parking lot that belonged to a restaurant. With only one car in the entire lot and no one in sight, Logan decided to double check his phone to see if he was in the right place. As he turned it on a message from the customer lit up the screen.

ROLL DOWN THE BACK WINDOWS, it said.

Sighing and rolling his eyes he rolled down the back windows like he was asked, mentally swearing to himself, wondering if this was another dumb, drunk rich kid prick. Looking around the parking lot, he still spotted no one in sight and decided to give whoever this was one more minute before he took off.

Before he could register the sound of running footsteps on pavement, he looked in his rear view mirror in time to see someone dive through the window, twist, and land on their back on the floor of the back of the car.

"Aaaaand she STICKS the landing! Woah!" came the sound of a young girl.

Logan pivoted in his seat to face his new passenger, furious. On the floor lay a teenage girl, her hands balled into fists as she punched the air in her exclamation of victory, her legs laying on the side of the car door. She had greasy shoulder length dirty blonde hair and wore a black and white striped, long sleeved t-shirt with dark blue jeans and old red sneakers. She must be freezing, Logan thought, and confirmed she was as he saw her blue fingertips and pale lips. She turned her smiling face toward him, her brown eyes sparkling.

"I looked so cool, didn't I?" she asked.

"Look kid, I don't have time to play around, alright? I have a job to do-"

"Imagine if I jumped in when the car was moving!"

"Kid!" he shouted, beyond furious. "I don't have time for any fucking games! You need to leave."

"But you never even asked if I had the money for this job!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, do you?"

She giggled. "No."

"Get out!" Logan screamed, feeling the claws within him twitch. He wanted to take this one last job to get some gas money for the trip tomorrow, not wanting to dip into the 20 grand he received today just in case there wasn't another 30 grand waiting for him in North Dakota.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she titled her head to the side. "You know, you should be nicer to me. I'm kind of important."

"I don't care which company your daddy owns-"

"Not that," she said, a little fierce. A pause, then: "You need me more than I need you."

Logan looked her over once more, noticing the dirt on her clothes and in her hair, the grime under her short fingernails, the red in her eyes, and how skinny she was. She looked like she lived on the streets, and she probably did.

"I don't need no street rat," Logan growled. "Now, I'm going to give you until the count of 3 to get out of my car." Pause. No one moved. "One...two...-"

The girl opened the car door and placed her feet outside on the ground. She winked at Logan before removing herself from his car and slamming the door shut behind her, hard enough to rattle the car.

"Move," Logan ordered at her through his open window. She obeyed and stepped out of his way to allow him to put the car in reverse and leave the parking lot. The entire time she sneered at him as he drove away.

Logan let out a long sigh and gripped his steering wheel tighter. He didn't want to just leave the kid there, given her current living situation, but he had enough to deal with as it was and couldn't take care of any strays. At the first stop sign he encountered he took out his phone to check for any more customers before deciding to call it a night.

He was holding up his phone to check the app when he saw something move on his peripheral. Looking to his right he flinched as he saw the girl sitting in his passenger seat smiling at him.

"What the fuck!" he yelled, his claws sliding out a little.

"What uuuup," she said, still smiling, clearly enjoying having scared him.

"How the-"

"Really, Wolverine? All the shit you've been through and this is the weirdest?" She gave him an odd look. "I'm a mutant, dummy, just like you. But get this- I recently turned 15." She raised an eyebrow in a way that suggested she expected a response from him.

"But mutants haven't been born in 15..." His eyes widened as he looked at her in a new light.

"There ya go. I'm the last mutant born. I'm kind of a celebrity."

Logan's face sobered up in such a way that it lost its show of excitement and surprise and instead fell back into his usual broody look. "Okay. And?"

"And what? That's not amazing enough for you?"

"So, you can teleport. Whoopdee-fucking-do, now could you leave me alone?"

"I can do more than just teleport, Wolvie." She nodded her head towards a car on the street opposite them. It was stopped at a stop sign. "Have you noticed how that car hasn't yet moved?" She pointed to the clock on his dashboard. "Or maybe how it's been 10:31pm for the past four minutes?"

Logan blinked slowly. "You can stop time."

"I manipulate time and space. That's teleportation, stopping time, going back in time, going forward-"

"Going back?" Logan asked, his voice rising a little in excitation.

The girl smiled slowly. "I knew you'd notice that. That's why I came here. Tell me this: is there something that maybe you'd want to redo? A day you wished you'd lived differently, perhaps?"

"H...how far back can you go?" Logan's mind filled with memories of his friends, his family, long dead due to that fateful day about a year ago. He'd die if that meant they could live again.

"All the way, baby." She looked down at her lap. "It's a little hard and requires a lot of energy on my part though, and I've never attempted it. I've only...the farthest back I've ever gone was a day, just to try it. It's hard to explain, I just know that going back years in time is something I could do as well. I'd just need focus, and a lot of energy. And maybe a telepath to help guide me?" She looked expectantly at him, implying the presence of a certain someone in his life. She didn't know for sure whether or not he was still alive, but she saw him grab medication from a hospital when she was following him the other day and thought the meds could maybe be for him. The one and only Professor X.

"No, Charles..." He sighed. "Charles can't help you. Can't help anyone no more. He's...he's too far gone."

There was a pregnant silence that filled the car as they both took in those words. The girl deflated a little, disappointed the most philanthropic telepath couldn't help her like he's helped so many before her. It would've been an honor, really, and it would've made her life easier. She released her hold on time and the clocked changed to 10:32pm. "Well," she said in a small voice, "I'm sure I could figure it out on my own."

"How long?"

She looked at him again. "How long would I take to prepare, you mean?" He nodded. "Um, a few days at least. I spent a lot of energy finding you and stalking you. I needed to make sure it was really you. I came all the way from Nevada, hitchhiking and teleporting non-stop. I need a recharge."

He nodded, his heart racing. Invisible tears formed behind his eyes and he almost couldn't believe this was real. Part of him wanted to reach out and touch her to make sure this was real and he wasn't hallucinating. If this turned out to be a rouse, he... He didn't know what he would do, if he was honest.

The car on the other side of the road had already moved and crossed the street, signaling to him that time was restored. He snapped back to reality and began driving back to his temporary home.

"I got a place you can stay and recuperate located outside of town. We can try when you're ready."

"Sounds like a plan."

The girl rolled down her window, rested her elbow on the door and her head in her hand. They rode in silence for a few moments before Logan asked, "Hey, I never got your name."

"Nadia. Nadia T. Tripp."


	2. Chapter 2

"I have some questions," grumbled Logan.

"As do I."

Logan's mind was racing a million miles an hour, constantly replaying old memories with old friends in his head. It was enough to give any telepath a headache. He struggled to keep his attention on the road, trying not to kill the Jesus character in his car. Which is how a part of him viewed her, anyway: a stranger come to turn back time and right the wrongs, bring back the dead.

Logan licked his lips. They were only about ten minutes away from his shelter (he couldn't use the word home, not really). "Are you alone?"

Nadia turned to him, her eyes furrowed. "Why?" she asked, craning her head to look at the back of the car. "You see anyone else here?"

"No, I mean... Look, you said you came all the way from Nevada. You found me in the middle of nowhere. You couldn't have done that all on your own."

"Why not?" Logan gave her a look. She sighed. "My dad helped a little. And the anonymous people on the internet. There were rumors an old looking Wolverine reared its ugly head-" he glared "-in Mexico. My dad did some digging. I followed his advice."

"And where's your father now?"

She blinked, looking back at the road. "No longer with us."

Logan gritted his teeth and nodded. He was familiar with how mutants were hunted down. When it came down to the last few being born and those unlucky enough to be spotted in public, they were quickly 'dealt with' either by the government or by homicidal neighbors. He lost a friend or two this way.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I understand what it's like to be hunted down, too. Lost a lot of good friends that way."

Nadia nodded. "The last thing he ever did was give me the information on how to find you. Over the phone. He was gunned down."

A silence filled the car again. Logan thought he needed to fill it with something, especially after what was just said. He wasn't ever good at this kind of thing, where you make other people feel better when they're sad with words. The only way Logan ever expressed himself was through rage and snarky comments, keeping the rest bottled up inside him.

He licked his lips. "Kid-"

"No, it's okay. It'll all be undone when this is over." She nodded, almost to try to convince herself.

They drove past the gate after Logan stepped out to open it and down the long stretch of road that took them to his place of refuge. Logan put the car in park and got out while Nadia preferred to teleport out.

"You shouldn't do that," warned Logan.

Nadia took in the abandoned factory- or whatever it was- and its size. "Do what?" she asked, not looking away.

"Use your powers like that. You're depleted, you said. You shouldn't use your powers at all for the next few days."

Nadia nodded, following Logan through the door. "Makes sense."

Logan led her to what looked like the kitchen area. The whole place was messy, given that it was never meant to be lived in, but it looked like they at least tried to make it a little like a home. As they rounded a corner, a large man in beige rags stepped out, startling Nadia. He gazed down at her with large, wild eyes. Nadia noticed he was even taller than Logan, had very pale skin, blue eyes, and was bald.

"Logan, who's this?" he asked in an accent she couldn't place.

"A mutant who'll help us," responded Logan. He walked over to a table, set down this things, and began removing his jacket. "It's a long story, but right now she needs food."

Nadia perked at the mention of food. It was always easy for her to freeze time and grab things in stores to eat but she had to worry about surveillance cameras and witnesses and accounts of stolen food so she didn't do it as often as she needed. She was, after all, being hunted.

The large man's hand came to hover over her head, making a short sweeping motion as if he was scanning her. "Do you know how powerful she is? What she can do?" He turned back to Logan. "Logan. This is huge."

"I know. She's going to fix everything, Caliban." He sighed, smiling a little. "She's going to make everything right again."

Caliban turned back to her suddenly, making her flinch again. She had to crane her neck back almost all the way to look into his eyes. "How far back can you go?"

"Depends," she answered. "Probably very far, if I had enough energy."

Caliban breathed out in surprise and muttered something to himself. "But, there's something else..." He waved his hand over her again. "How old are you?"

"15. Yes, I'm the last mutant born."

Caliban whipped around again to face Logan who had already walked over to the fridge and opened a beer. "This really is a miracle."

"She needs to stay here a couple days to get enough energy to make the jump," Logan explained. "She's to not use her powers until then."

Caliban made his way into the kitchen and began preparing food. "How far back is she gonna go?"

Logan looked at her, waiting for an answer. "I was thinking a couple years," Nadia said. "I was actually going to talk to you about it."

"Do you think you can do a couple?" Logan asked, unsure. "Why not just the one?"

Nadia shook her head. "It all went wrong years ago. We have a greater chance of changing public perception if we go back further. It's not enough to undo Westchester."

"What year?" asked Caliban.

Nadia shrugged. "I was going to ask you about that. I was thinking 2013? It was before most bills were passed and the school was still in good condition."

"Do you think that's good enough?" asked Caliban to Logan.

"Could you do 2010?" he asked her.

Nadia sighed and looked at Logan with a sad face. "I'm sorry, but I just don't think it's wise to warn anyone about the Phoenix thing. It won't change much-"

"Of course it would!" Logan shouted, slamming his beer down. Caliban stopped his food preparation to look at him. "We'd be able to help Jean, get her the help she deserved! We failed her!"

"Look, you're not gonna like this, but she was always a loose cannon, bound to go off at some point."

Logan took two steps toward Nadia and pointed a finger at her. "Jean was the greatest goddamn X-Man there was and she needed our help! I will not have you talking about her like you knew her! You don't know shit!"

"2013 or I'm out," Nadia said, unflinching. "If it wouldn't happen in 2011 it'd happen in 2012, or 2013, or 2014. There's no fixing that!"

"Logan-" Caliban began.

"You're telling me you're not even gonna try?" screamed Logan, a vein pulsing in his neck.

"If Charles couldn't help her, neither could you!" screamed Nadia in return. "What makes you so special, that you could do more for her than Professor X? Than Hank McCoy? Than her husband? Because you were her mistress?"

"Logan!" yelled Caliban. "Enough!"

"You don't know what the fuck you're talking about, kid! If we go back far enough to warn Jean, then she can help herself!" screamed Logan, taking another step toward her.

"Yeah, you'd like to believe that, wouldn't you?" Nadia shouted. Her father used to tell her stories about the Phoenix disaster, when Jean Grey lost control of her inner self and went on a rampage. The only way the X-Men could stop her was by killing her. There were many theories as to why it happened: she had dual personalities, she absorbed the minds of those she controlled, she was poisoned, and the scariest one of all; she was like that the whole time, a person with great rage and great power who sheltered that fact from the world so she could wait for the right moment to claim the world as her own. All those theories, some being more absurd than others, all had something in common: the Phoenix was always going to happen. Her going back a year before it did wouldn't change anything.

Logan growled, his hands turning into fists as he loomed over Nadia. He would never hit her, but boy did he want to show her the error of her ways.

"Logan, that's enough! The kid's right!" Caliban leaned over the table. "We're lucky if she even gets as far back as 2013! What happened with Jean was terrible, but you know what Charles said! It was inside her all along."

"Shut up," Logan growled in a whisper, looking at Caliban.

"He tried to stop it but even he couldn't, and he has the most powerful mind on the planet! Besides...do you really want to relive that a second time?" A loud silence filled the room and Nadia's eyes never left Logan's face, who looked between the two of them. "Now go check on Charles and I'll fix the kid some dinner."

Logan turned to glare at Nadia once more before storming off into another part of the compound. Nadia sighed and sat down on the bench by the table.

"Sorry about that, but, what happened with Jean had always affected him the most," Caliban explained, going back to preparing the food. "He's never been the same since. Just...always angry."

"He has every right to be," answered Nadia.

Caliban slid a plate over to her. On it was a pretty thick sandwich, stuffed with meat, cheese, and vegetables. "Sorry if you're vegetarian, but it looks like you could eat anything right now." Before he even finished Nadia had already taken a bite out of it and made quick work of it. "I'll get you something to drink."

"Wait." Caliban turned to her. She smiled mischievously. "Can I have a beer?"

Caliban smiled. "Logan won't like that very much," he said, but he already began walking over to where they kept the beer.

"Yeah, he'll get over it," Nadia responded, taking another bite out of her sandwich.

Caliban uncapped the beer and put it down next to her plate while taking a seat next to her. "How did you find us, kid?"

"My name's Nadia," she said, swallowing. "And it's a long story."

He watched her eat and drink for a few moments before continuing. "How do you know you can go back so far? Have you ever tried it?"

Nadia shook her head no. "The most I've gone back is a day, but it's kind of hard to explain. When I go back it's almost like I enter this other dimension where I can choose the day I end up in, if that makes any sense. All I know is it would require a lot of energy on my part but it should be pretty simple."

"Have you ever gone forward?"

"No, not yet. Really had no need to."

"I'm sensing that's not all you can do."

"And what's your power?" she asked curiously.

"I can sense other mutants powers and if there are any nearby. I sensed you before you walked through the door."

"So that's why Logan kept you. Huh." She took another bite of her sandwich. "Convenient. But, no, I can also teleport. A little pre-cognizant too."

Caliban seemed to think that over a little before rising from the bench and walking toward to living area. "We don't have an extra bed, unfortunately, and this couch is a bit older than you but it'll have to do. I'll get you some blankets."

Nadia mumbled a thanks with a mouthful of sandwich as Caliban sauntered off. Now alone, she looked more closely at the soddy living situation they had, what with the mold and the stains (was that a blood stain?) but at least they had settled down. Nadia usually slept in hotel rooms that were unoccupied, usually teleporting inside and curling up on the bed, looting the fridge while she was at it. She never once got to really sit still for more than 2 weeks at a time in her life and now, sitting in this shitty kitchen, she felt her muscles relax more, but that could just be the beer.

She finished her sandwich and forced herself to down the beer, even though it didn't taste that good, to make herself look cool. By this time Caliban had returned and placed a few blankets on the couch where she'll be sleeping for the next few days.

After he got it all situated, Nadia teleported over to lie down on it and stretched out.

"Logan's right- you shouldn't do that," scolded Caliban. "You need to save your energy."

"Sorry, force of habit," Nadia mumbled, already falling into a deep sleep.

"Well don't do it again. You look really dirty, are you sure you don't want to shower first? I promise you the water is hot, it-" Caliban paused as he noticed the young mutant was already fast asleep, one arm hanging off the side. Caliban tsked and lay a blanket over her before going to clean up her mess in the kitchen, still trying to make sense of everything that was happening.

The sudden appearance of her in his life was a huge surprise, given her abilities and the fact that he never sensed her coming despite her being a very powerful mutant. It brought back memories of when he operated in that basement, seeing many mutants come and go often. He loved meeting new people, especially ones with powers, and Nadia was no different to him. He just hoped she knew what she was doing.


	3. Chapter 3

It was about 10am when Logan walked into the kitchen already dressed in his usual suit and began making himself a cup of coffee. Caliban was off to the side ironing when he noticed the gruffly mutant's presence.

"Where are you off to?" he asked Logan.

"We still need some money for the time being," he explained. "The money I have stashed away will take me at least two or three days to claim and we need something to hold us over until then. Plus, she needs clothes." He nodded towards the couch. "How is she?"

"Fine. She'll probably wake up in the afternoon if I'm to go by how she got here."

Logan took two big gulps of coffee. "Just make sure she stays put and doesn't use her powers," warned Logan. "And make sure to feed her plenty. Make her take a damn shower." He finished his coffee, put the cup in the sink, and started heading out the door. "And tell her to stay outta my damn beer."

Caliban smiled a small smile and looked down at the new mutant. She was still curled under the blanket he gave her, dead asleep. He wondered briefly if he should wake her and make her eat something before deciding against it and continued to iron.

After Nadia fell asleep last night Caliban confronted Logan as he was walking out of Charles' living area. They held a very loud discussion about going back to 2013 instead of 2010 with Logan threatening to stab Caliban a few times. However, with a lot of coaxing that took almost an hour and the discussion having moved inside, Caliban was able to convince Logan that going back to the year 2013 was the best option for all. They also had decided to keep this from Charles and upped his dosage to keep him from knowing of Nadia's presence.

Caliban was impressed with the young mutant having come up with the year 2013. While it was after the Jean Grey episode, the mansion was fixed and a new team of staff was hired. It was the year of the most X-Men, and the best roster of them. If they could avoid the Fairfield, CT incident of early 2014, the one that propelled anti-mutant legislation and activists, most if not all of the bills passed wouldn't be in this new future, and the hunt for mutants wouldn't happen. Also, maybe they could find out why mutants began losing their powers in 2014, and why less and less of them were being born.

Nadia turned in her sleep and her arm fell over the side of the couch again. She looked so young and vulnerable like that, thought Caliban. Why was it always the young ones? A motif in the X-Men involved the young people stepping up and saving the day, having to grow up so fast. They were the ones kicked out by ungrateful parents, or laser-eyed their school, or gotten bullied because of their mutations. Their difference. And here they were yet again, waiting for a kid to rescue them.

It was around noon where Caliban finished the laundry and cleaned the kitchen when he decided it was time to give Charles his lunch, along with another dosage. He sure hoped he'd take it well given his dislike of Caliban and the fact that this is day one of deviating from the routine schedule. Sighing, Caliban grabbed the bottle and syringe and a plate of food before heading out to visit arguably the most important X-Man ever- Professor X.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

Nadia slowly blinked her eyes open, first coming to term with being blanketed in cozy warmth and then with the beaten coffee table in front of her. How'd she get here? Where's 'here'?

Memories of the night previous suddenly came back to her as she remembered meeting the famous Wolverine and having a screaming match with him. Boy, did the comics get his personality wrong- he was definitely more of a dick in person.

Slowly, regretfully, Nadia removed the blanket from her body and stood up, stretching. What time was it? How long did she sleep? She felt like she got hit by a bus. As she cracked her back she noticed the room's emptiness and she strained her ears to see if she could hear them in some part of the compound but she couldn't. Yawning, she was confused as to what her next move would be. Should she walk over to the kitchen and help herself or should she go investigate?

The growling of her stomach answered her question and a sudden wave of giddiness overcame her as she remembered she was in the proximity of a kitchen. A kitchen with food where she could help herself. Ever since her dad died she's been stealing from mini-fridges and grocery stores, and even before then she did a lot of that too.

Nadia walked over and opened some of the cabinets, familiarizing herself with its contents. She happened to open the two that contained bowls and another that contained some food next to a cereal box and decided she was going to have some cereal, something she didn't have in a long time. As she sat at the kitchen island she sat at last night she ate her cereal in quiet. Still she heard nothing from any part of the compound that suggested other people lived here. Did she freeze time without knowing? She concentrated for a moment on her powers and realized that no, she didn't stop time- there was just no one here. Frowning, she finished her cereal, washed her dishes, put them back where they belonged and began walking in the direction Logan disappeared to last night.

As she reached the end of the hallway there was only a large door which, judging by the light coming from underneath it, led to the outside.

Odd, thought Nadia as she opened the door, squinting from the assault of the sun on her vision.

She opened the door all the way, letting it clank against the outside wall as her vision adjusted. She heard faint arguing sounds coming from a downed structure that looked like a water tower and decided to walk towards it. Putting her ear against the door she heard what sounded like Caliban arguing with someone, telling whoever it was to 'just shut up and take the medicine'.

Nadia turned the latch on the door to open it when she heard a "No!" from inside, prompting her to open the door faster to see what was going on. She looked inside to find Caliban holding his hand out toward her with a surprised, scared expression on his face. Next to him sat the one and only Charles Xavier in his wheelchair looking at Nadia with an expression of shock.

"Nadia, leave! Now!" commanded Caliban, waving her away.

"You're keeping secrets from me now? You and Logan?" came the tired, worn voice of the former professor. He wore a look of anger as he faced the tall mutant. "You think I'm too disabled to deal with news like this?" To Nadia he said, "Come in, child. You can come in."

Awkwardly, Nadia stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She looked between the telepath and the tracker, the latter of whom had sighed and took a step back, leaning against the table. "This is Nadia."

Nadia sped up the pace in her walk and stood before the telepath, reaching her hand out in greeting. "Nice to meet you, sir," she sighed.

Charles took her hand in both of his and squeezed, saying, "It's very nice to meet you too, dear. I wonder why you were kept a secret from me."

As Nadia took her hand back she looked up at Caliban who shrugged. "She's just some kid Logan found on the streets and decided to take her in," he lied.

"Oh, come now, Caliban, couldn't you think of a better lie?" scolded Charles.

"I'm a mutant," explained Nadia.

Charles' eyes lit up. "I knew there were more mutants- see, I told you!" he said to Caliban. "What is it you can do, Nadia? What's your gift?"

"I can teleport."

Charles smiled. "Another teleporter! I always enjoyed Kurt, what a little bundle of energy that boy was!" He grew sad for a moment as he realized he used the past tense. "How old are you, Nadia?"

"She's 16," Caliban chided.

"I didn't ask you, you fucking albino," grumbled Charles, making Nadia giggle and look at Caliban embarrassed. "I only wondered because it was said that the last mutant born would be the savior of the mutant race," Charles went on to explain.

The smile was immediately gone from Nadia's face and her heart began to pound. "What do you mean, 'it was said'? Who said?"

"It's not true," began Caliban but was defeated by Charles.

"A long time ago, a very good, very old friend of mine said-"

The sound of a car door shutting stole everyone's attention away from the story as they all looked at the door. "Logan's back," offered Caliban, squirming a little.

Footsteps approached and the latch on the door was played with before it opened to reveal Logan who immediately spotted Nadia and grew angry.

He glared at Caliban. "I thought I fucking told you-"

"It wasn't my fault!"

"You can't do one thing right, can you?"

"Please, lets not argue in front of the child," chided Charles.

Caliban had already slammed the syringe down and walked out the door, murmuring to Logan to give Charles his medication this time.

Logan walked over, grabbed the syringe, and rolled up Charles' left sleeve. Gently he stuck the needle through the skin and emptied its contents, rolling the sleeve back down over it. "Eat your lunch, Charles. I'll be back soon."

"Logan, did something happen?" asked Charles, but Logan had already grabbed onto Nadia's arm and dragged her outside and back into the compound. When they were in, he turned to her and asked, "What did you tell him?"

"That I'm a mutant teleporter. That I'm 16," she answered.

Logan tsked and dragged Nadia in the living room/kitchen area. "You can let me go now!" Nadia told the harsh mutant.

In reply, he pushed her back onto the couch. "I need you to not speak to Charles again. Don't even go near him. I can't have him finding out about this operation, it's too risky. I don't know how he'll react to it."

"It's an operation now?" asked Nadia, smiling and rubbing her arm where he gripped it.

He glared down at her and, to his credit, visibly tried to calm himself down. "Have you eaten yet today?"

Before she could answer, Caliban called his name from outside, not once but twice. Cursing under his breath he went to go see what it was about, warning Nadia to stay there until he got back.

What a prick, thought Nadia. Way too controlling. Why exactly couldn't we tell the professor the plan? Nothing bad could happen!

Nadia remembered Charles' old, tired face and straining voice. He must be at least 90 now, she figured. He looked like he never left that downed water tower and took a lot of medicine. Why was he out there alone? Why didn't he have a room in the factory next to Logan and Caliban?

As soon as it clicked, Nadia was embarrassed it took that long to figure out: he's old, he's been through a lot, he's isolated. Why? He must still have his powers, one of the few mutants that still do. His powers must not be working properly or he can't control them much anymore, hence the medicine and the isolation. He's kept in that tank probably to dampen his powers, thus saving him from himself and others from him.

It's smart. Sad, but smart.

It was at this time that Caliban walked back into the room. Nadia stood at his presence. "What's going on?" she asked. "Where's Logan?"

Caliban looked at her, his body movements giving way to his nervousness. "He's talking to someone. Don't go out there, everything's fine."

Nadia wasn't convinced. "You guys get visitors often?" She leaned against the couch and crossed her arms. She was confident this visitor wasn't for her as she covered her tracks well.

Caliban took a deep breath and sighed, calming his body down. "Have you eaten yet today?"

The sound of the water tower door opening caught their attention and they whipped their heads in the direction of it. "No, no, no," Caliban repeated, making his way over. "He can't go outside!"

Nadia jogged to keep up with the tall mutant's strides as she followed him outside the door. Charles had already rolled past them, around the factory and towards where Logan parked his car. Caliban cursed and followed him.

"Laura!" cried Charles. They turned the bend to find him stopped. "Logan, this is Laura, THIS is the mutant I've been telling you about! Caliban, Nadia, come! This is Laura."

Caliban and Nadia stood behind Charles as he gesticulated towards a little girl standing off to the side. Nadia took in the situation and tried to make sense of it all: besides Logan's car sat another, and besides Logan lay an unconscious man. Logan was holding a pipe in his hand and was watching the young girl. Nadia put two and two together: Logan was a savage.

Charles began wheeling himself inside, saying, "Come, Laura, come inside."

The little girl yanked a faded green backpack from Logan's hands, picked up a pipe on the ground, and followed Charles inside, all the while glaring a hole through Logan. Caliban walked over to Logan and stared down at the body. Nadia didn't know whether she wanted to follow the newcomer inside or investigate the body so she stood there, her eyes following the disappearing bodies while her ears listened in on Caliban and Logan's conversation.

"Ex-military? Bounty hunter maybe?" she overheard Caliban ask.

"Worse," Logan answered, causing Nadia to whip her head over to look at them. Logan handed Caliban a card.

"Is he alone?" prompted Caliban.

"I don't know. Take his car and take him out to the wash, dump him."

"But what if he wakes up?"

Logan delivered a swift kick to the man's head and handed Caliban a gun. "Text me when you're done and we'll pick you up." He turned and walked inside the compound, putting his hand on Nadia's back to goad her along with him.

"What's going on?" Nadia questioned.

"Don't worry about it, its being handled."

Nadia shrugged Logan's hand off her back in anger at being left out of whatever was happening. They were killing a guy and dumping his body, a guy who's 'worse than the military', and a new young girl shows up who's also a mutant? What the fuck?

As they walked in they saw Laura sitting at a table eating the same cereal Nadia ate earlier and Charles sat in his wheelchair next to her watching. She turned her head to look at him to which Charles nodded and muttered 'yes'. Obviously, they were speaking telepathically.

Logan slowly walked over to the other side of the table where she sat, eyeing her curiously, before reaching out and grabbing the backpack on the table in front of her. Laura immediately dropped her spoon and hung onto the backpack for dear life, struggling to pry it from the stronger mutant's hands.

"Logan!" yelled Charles.

"You'll get it back when I find out what you and your mom got us into," grumbled Logan, still trying to wrestle it from Laura.

"Logan..." warned Charles.

With a sigh, Logan let go of the backpack, letting it slam back down on the countertop. Laura glared at him and pulled the bag closer to her, hugging it as she picked up her spoon and continued eating.

Logan walked over to a counter by a window and Charles turned his chair to face where he'd gone. Nadia took a seat on the other side of the new girl and watched her as Logan and Charles bickered. The new girl had short dark brown hair and brown eyes and looked to be about 10 years old. She wore clothes that were too big for her and eyes that were too old for her. Who was she and where did she come from?

Nadia did not foresee her appearance here with them, and that upset her. She wondered just how much trouble this new girl would bring and if they were able to handle it. Nadia had spent almost her entire life with the sole purpose of finding the Wolverine and going back in time to help her people, and she didn't want this new girl messing it all up. This is what her parents had died for, and this is what she would die for as well. She wondered, however, if it was a cause she'd kill for- especially when there's a child involved.

At the sound of a train passing by Laura quickly stood up and looked around with a panicked expression on her face. Charles turned to her and tried to calm her down by speaking Spanish (horribly), saying it was just a 'choochoo'. Un tren. Laura seemed to accept this answer and sat back down, fingering her backpack as she continued eating. Logan left the room, exiting the way they came in.

The 3 of them stayed like that, watching Laura as she ate. She had already finished her first portion and poured the cereal into the bowl to start her second.

"You said she was a mutant?" asked Nadia. Charles looked at her. "What can she do?"

"She's very much like Logan," answered Charles.

Nadia waiting for him to continue but he didn't. "Sooo, like, enhanced healing? Bone claws? What?"

The sound of another train passing by made Laura jumpy again as she slowly stood and looked around, muscles taut. Charles began soothing her again as Logan stomped into the room, materializing out of nowhere.

"It's not a choochoo," Logan grumbled as he looked out a window.

Nadia's heart beat faster in her chest as she grew more worried. It's definitely that blonde dude's reinforcements, she thought. Now she's going to have to use her power to get her out of this mess even though she's exhausted her powers and she'll have to wait even longer to undo history and-

"Don't use your powers!" Logan shouted as he pointed a finger at Nadia. "Not necessary. I'll handle this. Follow me and do as I say." He grabbed onto the back of Charles' wheelchair and began moving him out of the room as Nadia followed. He instructed Laura to stay behind over the sound of Charles protesting.

"Logan, we have to go back for the girl!" shouted Charles as they were outside. "We can't leave her!"

Logan ignored him as they made their way to his parked car. "Get in back," he instructed Nadia as he carefully placed Charles in the backseat and threw his wheelchair in the trunk. Before Nadia ducked inside, she saw the numerous cars approaching, creating large clouds of dust.

Nadia remembered all the close calls she had with her father; encounters with the small section of the government's defense who were tasked with finding powerful mutants, encounters with people who called themselves the U-Men who tasked themselves with murdering all mutants, and many more. She remembered the things her father did to keep her safe, and sometimes they were not so nice, but he always tried to make sure she didn't hear or see any of it. 'Tried' is the key word.

As Nadia sat in the back seat next to Charles, she equated it to sitting next to the president. It was exciting, sitting next to someone so famous, someone who has done so much for their kind and for the safety of the world. But there was a sad reality to it as she held his hand and squeezed as he pathetically tried to get them to go back for the girl. He was practically powerless now, both literally and figuratively, and it hurt Nadia to see someone she had venerated in such a state.

Logan cursed as he tried to maneuver the car around the intruders, trying desperately to get them out and failing. Eventually, he put the car in park as he saw them trapped but still refused to get out.

"Logan, I could-" Nadia began.

"No!" Logan shouted.

"It'll just be an extra day of recuperating-"

"I said no dammit! I'll handle this!"

Nadia shook her head and gritted her teeth. Goddamn macho men! she thought. It would make so much more sense if she could just pause time enough for them to-

The blonde man who Nadia thought dead stuck his head through the passenger window and directed a smile toward Logan. "Well hello, Logan." He looked in the back seat. "And if it isn't America's favorite octogenarian, and, uhh," he lowered his sunglasses to look at Nadia, "who's this?"

"Where's Caliban?"-"I'm a nonagenarian, actually," corrected Charles with a hiss as Logan shouted.

Logan slammed the door open, hitting a man with the door and knocking him down. Logan exited the vehicle and growled at the men surrounding it. The blonde man ordered his men to stand off and Logan turned back to him, slamming the door closed. "Where's Caliban?" he demanded.

"Why don't you tell me where the girl is first," began the man, "or I can ask cue ball- he seems quite friendly."

"I told you, she's not here- where's Caliban, motherfucker?"

The man blinked, totally calm in front of an angry Wolverine, before saying, "Well, I left him in the same ditch you was gonna leave me in."

Logan took no time to grab onto the man's shirt and unsheathe the claws in his left hand, aiming them at the man's face. He was immediately counteracted by the man's men who slammed him into the car and threw him to the ground. About half a dozen loomed over him and aimed their guns at him.

The blonde man walked over. "Jesus, Wolverine, you know seeing you like this just breaks my damn heart."

"As soon as I rip it out of your chest-" Logan began but was kicked in the face, hard, by the mystery man. The sound made a metallic clank. Logan groaned.

"Go get her," the man told his men, pointing towards the factory. The men had their guns drawn and walked slowly into the factory, checking every corner, before disappearing from view completely.

The sounds of distant screaming rang through everyone's ears and they all looked in the direction it came. Out of the factory came Laura with her backpack on and holding something under her arm.

The men fidgeted but the blonde man held out his arm to stop their movements. Laura walked past the gate and glared at them.

"Thatta girl!" the blonde man shouted. "Hey baby..." he gave a little wave.

Laura threw whatever it was she was carrying and it rolled to a stop in front of the man. Nadia couldn't see what it was from where she sat in the back of the car but she figured it belonged to one of the guys he sent to fetch her.

"Laura," the blonde man sighed as Laura began walking towards them again. "Laura! Now, you don't want to do this..."

The blonde man's pleading did nothing to deter Laura from slamming something down on the ground and walking to stand in front of them. Suddenly, the man jumped backwards and ordered his men to attack as Laura screamed and hit one of them. Nadia still couldn't see clearly what was going on and debated leaving the car and stopping time to get them all out of there.

The sounds of gunfire rattled Nadia's bones and brought back bad memories. She shivered as the men aimed their gunfire towards Laura who somehow managed to dodge all their bullets and run back inside the factory.

"Stop! Shooting! She heals! Move!" ordered the blonde man to his men. At least half a dozen men ran inside the factory with their guns up, shouting to each other both in English and Spanish. Logan stirred on the ground as he was no longer being pinned down, and Charles' jaw was wide open, surprised by the events.

"It's okay, Mister Xavier," Nadia said in a soft voice. He looked at her. "I'll keep you safe."

As soon as these words were spoken the sound of gunfire and screaming emanated from the factory again as Laura no doubt continued her brutal attack on the men. What powers did she have? Nadia wondered. She knows Laura can heal like Wolverine because just shooting her wouldn't work, but did she have his claws too? Was that how she was hurting, and possibly killing, those men? Was this Logan's long lost daughter or something?

Logan got up and ran towards the men surrounding Laura and pinning her down and put his 3 claws through one of them, throwing his aside and moving on to the rest. As both he and Laura fought the men, Nadia fidgeted in the car. She really wanted to go out there and help and, if she was honest, she just really wanted to stop watching people die. It made her sick, especially considering the way they died.

Nadia was about to do just that, Logan be damned, when she noticed 3 men running towards the car. Before she could do anything, however, Logan appeared behind them and made quick work of them. He was so close that Nadia actually heard the 'shlink' the blades made as they went through the bodies.

Logan quickly got in the car and took it out of park. "Logan, we must go back for the girl!" shouted Charles.

"Hold on!" Logan roared, ignoring Charles again. The car quickly accelerated and skidded around on the sand before coming to a short, quick stop as Laura jumped onto the front of it. Logan accelerated again as Laura climbed on the top of the car and fell through the open sunroof.

"Laura, are you alright?" Charles asked her.

Nadia noticed a hole in her clothes stained with a little red and wondered if she got hit with a bullet. Other than that her knuckles were stained red, but she appeared to be okay.

"Hang on!" Logan warned again as he rammed the car into a fence.

He can possibly think this'll work! Nadia thought to herself.

Realizing it was futile, Logan reversed the car through the yard, dodging and sometimes hitting the men in the way. Once the fence was dislodged from the tires Logan put it back in drive and drove past the fence towards the open desert. The men began shooting at the car and Nadia ducked down for cover. She watched as Laura shielded Charles with her body and then fly back, rolling the sleeve back on her right arm and digging into the skin with her teeth, spitting a bullet out after.

Christ, thought Nadia. How tough is this girl?

Logan continued driving as two motorcyclists surrounded the car. One fell back and mounted the back of the vehicle as the other one drove along the side and punched through the window with what looked like a metal arm. Laura screamed and sliced the arm off, then turned around and stabbed the other man through the face. They both looked at her with surprise; Charles with what she had done, and Nadia upon realizing she had bone claws like Logan. Not only that but they were laced with adamantium too. Where exactly did she come from?

Logan made a sharp turn to the left and Nadia flew to the other side of the car, slamming into the door with her shoulder first. The sound of a train whizzing by, blaring its horn, scared the crap out of her too. Did Logan just narrowly miss getting hit by a train? Why the hell didn't he just ask Nadia to use her powers instead of doing death-defying stunts like this?

The car was stopped and as Nadia turned to glare at Logan she noticed he was staring at the train, or rather through the train, at the men who could no longer pursue them. Laura snuck up to the front and stared at them with Logan.

"Get back!" he told Laura as he slammed his foot on the gas.

They drove for a little while in silence with Nadia making sure to check if Charles was okay, to which he said he was fine and occupied himself with making sure Laura was okay.

"You..." began Logan. Laura drew her eyes to the front. "Who the hell are you?"

Laura said nothing. "Hey, I asked you a question- who are you?" Logan raised his voice and turned around in his seat to look at Laura, who sat and faced him.

"You know who she is, Logan," groaned Charles, tired from today's events.

"No, I don't."

"Does she remind you of anybody?"

Silence filled the car once again as they found themselves on a long stretch of road, heading nowhere fast with no destination in mind and no plan on how to deal with what just transpired. Nadia chose to remain silent for fear of upsetting the already beyond-pissed Wolverine and decided to let him quietly come up with a strategy. All Nadia could think was, how far were they going to take this girl?

Nadia stared at Laura as she gazed out the window like nothing happened. She made a silent promise to protect Wolverine from her as she and Wolverine were the only ones who could save the mutants from extinction, and she wasn't about to let anyone get in the way of her life goal.


End file.
